Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Friday called the police mutiny turned apparent coup attempt in Ecuador a day earlier an act of stupidity. "Today, the coup perpetrators realized how stupid they were to attempt a coup against Rafael Correa," dpa quoted Lula as telling reporters in the industrial city of Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo. "What happened in Ecuador is condemned by all democratic presidents around the world. We all support democracy and Rafael Correa's stay in power," Lula said. He said he had tried to call Correa, with no luck so far. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said he had spoken to Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino on Thursday. Brazil's Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota travelled to Quito Friday with the foreign ministers of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) to express the region's support for Correa, after an emergency meeting late Thursday in Buenos Aires. The meeting in Argentina was attended by several president, although Lula stayed in Brazil in order to pursue further his campaign for Sunday's general election. "It is very important for our region to have reacted fast to events in Ecuador," Amorim said late Thursday from Port-au-Prince, where he was on an official visit. "We will not tolerate attacks on democratic processes and on the civilian authority of a legitimately elected government." In comments to the daily Folha de Sao Paulo, Amorim said the rapid reaction by the region's governments prevented the Ecuadorian crisis from becoming a full-blown coup like the one that toppled Honduran president Manuel Zelaya in June 2009. The delay to react to the Honduran coup "made it difficult to reverse the situation."
